William DeGiulio explains why his organization, Educational Advocates for Responsible Spending, opposes building the new, combined middle school on the site of the existing Williams Middle School.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
LONGMEADOW — Voters at the Longmeadow Town Meeting on Nov. 12 voted overwhelmingly in favor of continuing plans for a combined middle school project on the site of the existing Williams Middle School.
An ad hoc group, Educational Advocates for Responsible Spending, whose members oppose the location of the new middle school, brought the article before voters. It asked the town to “authorize the continued expenditure of funds” for the new school “at the site of the existing Williams Middle School” but also “not restrict the expenditure of funds by the town for activities related to rehabilitation, renovation or reconstruction of the present Williams Middle School at the current scale and enrollment level, or for activities related to the construction of a combined middle school at another site.”
Despite being phrased in the affirmative, the petitioner, Michael Kallock, asked that voters reject the article.
After conferring with town counsel regarding the article in October, Town Moderator Rebecca Townsend said the language in the citizen’s petition was not “actionable,” and it was therefore considered a resolution.
During a presentation that accompanied the article, EARS member William DeGiulio said the Williams site would not work because of traffic, the size of the site and an “insufficient buffer” between the proposed school and neighbors. He showed photos of congested traffic in front of the school with its existing traffic pattern and said there would be only one entrance and exit. However, the preliminary plans call for access at the front and rear of the property and separate areas for buses and passenger vehicles to queue.
“We’re talking about a 1950s traffic plan in 2024. It can only get better,” Middle School Building Committee Chair Armand Wray said.
DeGiulio also said 300 cars would line up to drop off and pick up students at the school, the enrollment at which is projected to be 665. Longmeadow Public Schools Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea said the goal is to offer enough afterschool activities that “kids don’t want to leave” when the academic day ends and, therefore, all students would not be picked up at the same time.
Wray refuted DeGiulio’s statement that there had been no public hearings on the location. He said there had been 18 public meetings before the preferred location was submitted to the MSBA in late August.
O’Shea explained that the site had been chosen based on its central location in town, lower cost and fewer constraints than if it were built on the Glenbrook Middle School site. Also, there would be no need to put students in modular classrooms. He also ran down a list of potential traffic mitigation methods, such as a left turn lane off Wiliams Street, new crosswalks and speed warning signs and extended drop-off and pick-up zones.
EARS member Minoo Tehrani expressed concerns about vehicle emissions and geothermal energy being used at the school. At the same time, Thomas Narrigan took issue with the preliminary traffic study completed by consulting firm Tighe & Bond. He said the vehicles at the site would “more than double” and that a turn lane on Williams Street would not solve the issue.
Another resident said the abutters’ concerns had not been taken seriously.
Speaking in favor of a “yes” vote on the article, School Building Committee member Julie Morgan said the middle schools are a “sore spot” among the town’s education facilities and students, particularly those with disabilities, need an improved space to learn. She asked voters to trust the process laid out by the town and the state.
One voter, whose child attends Williams Middle School, said, “The only way is to go forward. Our kids deserve better.”
Reading from the town’s zoning bylaws prohibiting projects that would degrade traffic at intersections without “alternative proposals to meet the standards,” DeGiulio asked why the Planning Board was not “pushing back” on traffic at the proposed site. Planning Board member Walter Gunn explained that nothing had come in front of the board yet and that projects have to have a definitive plan designed before the Planning Board can weigh in on the site plan.
Erica Weida moved to refer the article to the Middle School Building Committe, saying the language of the article was “needlessly confusing” and a vote could open make the town vulnerable to legal action. Kallock and Middle School Building Committee member Josh Levine both spoke against the motion. Kallock said he did not see the purpose because the article was non-binding, while Levine said a referral would simply be asking the committee to change their decision on a site, which they would not do because the committee had done its due diligence.
The referral failed and the article passed 434-96.
Fiber network
The town also voted to establish a municipal light plant and use $491,444 in available funds for the preliminary design of a town-wide fiber optic internet system and the roughly 2,000 pole permits required to make those designs a reality.
Municipal Fiber Task Force member Ben Brown gave a presentation about the limits of cable internet speeds. He explained that the task force had considered three options, including making no change and relying on the private internet service providers to offer fiber to the home. Alternatively, there are models in which the town would install the fiber infrastructure and handle all customer service, allowing multiple ISPs to lease space on the town’s network. He said there would be no guarantee that enough companies would participate to create competition and price fluctuations would be out of the town’s control.
The final model, which the Task Force chose as the best option for Longmeadow, is a town-owned public fiber-to-the-home network with a single ISP. Brown said that the group had interviewed Whip City Fiber and GoNetSpeed, but chose Fiberspring from South Hadley Electric Company because it is a local company that already serves 3,800 broadband customers and is building out similar networks in Leverett and Shutesbury. He said partnering with Fiberspring offers the town a revenue stream, utility independence and a local partner.
The full cost of the buildout would be $25 million, but the town would likely not bond for the whole amount at once, said Vineeth Hemavathi, chair of the task force. Instead, the town would build out the network first in the neighborhoods with the most interest. The revenue from those customers could then be used to pay down the debt or help fund the next neighborhood’s buildout. Once the first bonds are issued for construction of the network, the $491,444 will be refunded to the town’s general fund, according to the warrant.
Residents had a lot of questions about the project. Tom Shea asked if the Select Board would consider a 20-year bond, instead of one with a 30-year term, and if they would agree to act at the municipal light board until the buildout is complete. Hemavathi said the board would consider both items but said there are pros and cons to each.
A voter asked how much money has come back to other towns that have made the investment. Hemavathi explained that, to break even, Longmeadow will need a take rate of 40%, that is four in 10 internet customers to sign up for the network. Every municipally owned network the task force researched has reached or exceeded its break-even take rate.
Only a couple people spoke against the project, mostly because they felt they did not have enough information.
Speaking in favor, a doctor said that if he had known how bad the town’s Comcast internet was, he would have questioned relocating there. He said it has been “incredibly disappointing and frustrating” to have telehealth calls with patients drop.
Another voter, who works as an energy engineer, said that in his experience, investor-owned utilities, like Comcast, do not “have their customers’ best interests at heart.” Instead, they answer to shareholders.
Other residents in favor of the network said they were “voting for the future” and that Comcast has a “stranglehold” on the town. “Let’s put the money back into Longmeadow,” one person said.
Residents chose to do just that, voting 396-27 to approve the funding.
Roadwork
The most expensive article on the warrant called for the town to bond for $5.19 million for several road resurfacing projects. The DPW would use the funding to address paving and other roadwork on Shaker, Emerson, Grassy Gutter, and Pondside roads; Cooley, Twin Hills and Bel Air drives; Longmeadow Street from Bliss Road to Wheel Meadow Drive and Canterbury Lane. The roadways represent about four years’ worth of work. The warrant stated that the backlog would cost far more than the town’s annual capital funding and Chapter 90 state aid. The article passed 375-43.
